Plaid Cymru in ‘surprise’ election win – at a Chipping Norton boarding school
Plaid Cymru won a rather unexpected election last week – at a Church of England boarding school near Chipping Norton in the Cotswolds.
Five Sixth Form politics pupils had put themselves forward in a mock General Election at the school representing the Liberal Democrats, Brexit Party, Plaid Cymru, Labour and the Conservatives.
The school held a hustings attended by the whole school where the five candidates laid out their policies for government. All pupils and staff were invited to vote. Turnout was 65%.
Plaid Cymru won the election on Thursday with 95 votes to the Liberal Democrats’ 93, with the Conservative candidate in third place on 29 votes.
‘Engaged’
“Of course, we are incredibly surprised by the outcome,” a spokesperson for the school said.
“The Plaid Cymru candidate ran a very unassuming campaign and stated his policies calmly at the hustings. It appears, however, that his message was popular among the pupils, who really got behind him on polling day with posters and advertising slogans. Maybe they were keen to vote for something different.
“The pupils have been highly engaged by the democratic process: the election has been a hotly discussed issue in boarding houses and common rooms across the School. We look forward to seeing the real results come in this evening.”
Kingham Hill is located in the heart of the Cotswolds, between Oxford, Cheltenham and Stratford-Upon-Avon.
The school was founded in 1886 and has around 340 pupils split into eleven houses, seven of which are boarding and four for day students.
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This very much follows the pattern of voters trolling the political system; something that has been a feature of British politics since coalition days, when we were promised a new politics but just got more of the same. The fact that Plaid itself has largely failed to tap into this discontent is a concern, and something that we need to work hard on before the next round of elections in 2021.
Rob, Maybe the Chipping Norton Plaid candidate is showing us the way? Calm, measured. Well done he!
I can confirm that calm and measured doesn’t quite describe the candidate. Sorry. He won through heavy advertising and social pressure. (I go to the school)
When people watch this film, they may want to support Plaid Cymru:
********** 61% of UK citizens support higher taxes to fund the NHS. **************
Also;
57% support the BBC
64% rail nationalisation
55% bus ———” ——-
63% water ——- ” ——
Lots! Royal Mail.
It’s been taken down:
“Video unavailable
This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Dartmouth Films.”
Pity this article doesn’t say what were the winning policies at this fee-paying school in an afluent part of Middle England, ‘cos that might give Plaid Cymru a clue as to why they did badly in places like Cwm Cynon, Torfaen and Islwyn
Pushing ever eastwards, until kingdom come, thy will be done, is the only way the dragon’s tongue may endure. The only way Wales endures.
Da iawn! It maybe that many who reside in England are starting to realise that they have a largly forgotten Brythonic Heritage too that they have almost lost touch with, following the “regime changes” that occurred when the Anglo Saxons and later the Normans came along.
I remember an equally entertaining election at school in the 1980s. One of the school rebels stood as a Communist, gave an impassioned speech on the inequities of modern Britain and won with a good majority. However he didnt pursue a political career when he left school and probably now works in finance.
I’m telling as someone who goes to this school the kid that won for Plaid Is a kid that is a sort of popular unpopular kid. Many people thought it was funny to vote for him to make him win and to also make the news.
Well that’s bs
As a member of the school, I can confirm that the results may have been… Altered by social pressure and heavy advertisment. Everyone was talking about how we should “Make Whales Great Again” (that’s how they were spelling it), and that we should “Vote Lloyd” (The name of the candidate). As well as this, literally thousands of posters for Plaid Cymru were put on windshields, stuck into doors, even put into rucksacks in some occasions. I voted for Liberal Democrats in this particular mock election.
how nasty of you, just because your not in the spotlight do not shoot someone else down.
As a member of the school I can confirm that Lloyd was brilliant and captivated the whole school with his classic dry humour and enthusiasm. Anybody who says otherwise is an idiot and I stand by that! #VoteLloyd
PS if your don’t your inept
if you put one lasgna on top of another lasgna is that two lasgnas stacked or one big lasagna?